Poll: U.S. hiding knowledge of aliens

June 15, 1997
Web posted at: 12:00 p.m. EDT

(CNN) -- Nearly 50 years since an alleged UFO was sighted at
Roswell, New Mexico, a new CNN/Time poll released Sunday
shows that 80 percent of Americans think the government is
hiding knowledge of the existence of extraterrestrial life
forms.

While nearly three-quarters of the 1,024 adults questioned
for the poll said they had never seen or known anyone who saw
a UFO, 54 percent believe intelligent life exists outside
Earth.

Sixty-four percent of the respondents said that aliens have
contacted humans, half said they've abducted humans, and 37
percent said they have contacted the U.S. government. The
poll has a margin of error of plus or minus 3 percentage
points.

But only 9 percent said they believed there were any
aliens near the Hale-Bopp comet, which recently passed close
enough to Earth to be seen with the naked eye.

Some "ufologists" believed a spacecraft was hidden near the
comet, and members of the Heaven's Gate cult committed
suicide, believing that they would be taken aboard the craft
and returned "home."

What happened in Roswell?

As for the Roswell incident, nearly two-thirds of the
respondents to the poll said they believed that a UFO
crash-landed in a field outside the New Mexico town 50 years
ago next month.

In one of the most famous UFO "sightings" in U.S. history,
Roswell residents in 1947 saw lights in the night sky,
followed by a loud explosion. A rancher found the "crash
site" and removed a large piece of debris, storing it in his
shed.

A few days later, Air Force officials from nearby Roswell Air
Force Base inspected the site and the debris, and issued a
press release announcing the recovery of a "flying disc." The
Air Force quickly retracted that statement, and claimed the
debris was from a weather balloon.

But countless statements -- some from military personnel --
appeared to contradict the Air Force's revised position. And
several "witnesses" claimed to have seen bodies of dead
aliens whisked away by the military.

Roswell today capitalizes on its fame as a UFO crash site --
whether or not it actually happened -- and is hosting a 50th
anniversary celebration the first week of July.

Friend or foe?

Most people -- 91 percent -- told the pollsters that they had
never had contact with aliens or known anyone who had. A
similar number -- 93 percent -- said they had never been
abducted or known anyone whisked away by beings from another
planet.

But if they do meet someone from a galaxy far, far away, 44
percent said they expect to be treated as friends, while 26
percent think they'll be treated as enemies.